Rapid diagnosis of non-prolonged febrile illnesses necessitating fever hospital admission

ABSTRACT

Two hundred and seventy patients were studied during a 2 years period in Abbassia and Embaba fever hospitals. The duration of illness before admission was less than 20 days. Suggestive clinical symptoms and/or signs of each disease were stressed. Rapid laboratory investigations include slide typhoid agglutination test [98%] in enteric fevers, slide malta agglutination test [86%] in brucellosis, urine culture [100%] in urinary tract infection, gram stain of C.S.F. in bacterial meningitis [80%], encephalitis [0%] and meningeal irritation [0%], high vaginal swab culture [100%] in puerperal fevers, echocardiogram [100%] in infective endocarditis, high E.S.R. [100%] and positive C.R.P [71%] and/or high A.S.O [86%] in rheumatic fever, counterimmunoelectrophoresis [86%] in amoebic liver abscess, chest X-ray in pneumonia [100%], pulmonary tuberculosis [100%] and pleural effusion [100%], ultrasound of lymph nodes [100%] in tuberculous. lymphadenitis. Erysipelas and tetanus were diagnosed on clinical grounds only